A housewife took a fatal cocktail of drugs in a cry for help, her husband told an inquest.

Eleanor Collett, 43, of Southmoor Way, Abingdon, died on January 27 after taking paracetamol and anti-depressants.

Her husband, Clifford Collett, told Oxford Coroner's Court yesterday she had become ill after taking a combination of drugs on at least six other occasions.

He said she was depressed about the death of a man who 'was like a second father to her' the previous Saturday. Mr Collett said he returned from the dentist on the afternoon of January 27 to find her passed out on the settee.

He said she was sick and then stopped breathing.

She had been prescribed nine months' supply of anti-depressants.

He told the court: "I can't understand why they were prescribing that quantity of tablets.

"It should have been on her records that she abused them."

Coroner Dorothy Flood recorded an open verdict.

Story date: Saturday 20 November

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